Developing a National Framework for Essential Skills: Seeking Harmony while Respecting Diversity

March 2012

Objective: To design, test and validate a systemic and structured approach to develop Essential Skills in the workplace and learner environments.

Summary of Findings: What would be the impact of having employees improve their Essential Skills (ES) be on the workplace and services provided to seniors in a long term care facility? Employees in several departments: Food Services, Environmental Services, Physical Plant, and In- Care Living were invited to participate in ES research and training over an eight week period. Twenty two people were assessed using the Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES) and 16 employees participated in 12 hours of classroom training. Of the ten who wrote the post-TOWES, nine scored higher in at least one of their Essential Skills: Reading, Document Use or Numeracy.

Care and Construction: Assessing Differences in Nursing Home Models of Care on Resident Quality of Life

Objective: To assess the difference in nursing home models with respect to their impact on resident quality of life, and to disseminate this information to the continuing care sector to positively impact the delivery and efficiency of nursing home care in Nova Scotia and nationally.

Summary of Findings: The Care and Construction research team used a variety of methods to examine resident quality of life from three different perspectives: nursing home residents, family members, and staff. In 2012, a survey of residents, family members and staff allowed a large number of individuals to participate in the study and a more in-depth examination of contextual factors was achieved through case studies, interviews, and focus groups. More than 1,600 participants from nursing homes across Nova Scotia were involved with the project.

Results show that positive relationships among residents, family, and staff and a sense of homelikeness within the nursing home are associated with higher resident quality of life (QOL). Facilities that have the self-contained “household” design (present in facilities recently built in Nova Scotia) were found to have an indirect impact on resident QOL through relationships and homelikeness. From the staff perspective, some elements of the working environment (e.g. clarity of work roles and transformational leadership among supervisors) were associated with higher resident QOL. These findings were shared with sector representatives during a one day workshop to support understanding of the main study findings – importance of relationships, homeliness, working environment – as well as to generate ideas for policy, practice and education that can support the take up of findings.

Does Timing of Caregiver Assessment make a Difference: Evaluating the Impact with Older Spousal Caregiver of Persons with Cognitive Impairment

March 2011

Objective: To advance work on the important role of caregivers in the health care system by better understanding the impacts of caregiver assessment experienced by both the older spousal caregiver (of someone with cognitive impairment) who is assessed, and the nurse trainee who conducts the assessment.